Turkey should stop taking advantage of Somali poor people and colonising Somalia
To The President of Turkey 16 /10/2020
Dear Mr Erdogan,
Cc :Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar
Cc/ :Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Cc/ :Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of UAE
I write to request in diplomatic yet robust terms that your government desists from interfering in Somalian internal political affairs, in particular the Somalian electoral process. You should understand that our country’s natural resources must not be exploited as a result of the weak administration that currently governs Somalia. In the absence of a strong government and effective regulatory bodies to protect our valuable national assets, I warn you that any deal your government makes with the current highly corrupt leadership in both Somalia and Somaliland will be challenged legally in the international courts.
I would also remind you that you should abide by the Paris Climate Change Agreement, concluded in 2015, because our party, the Somaliland People’s Party, wants to prioritise clean renewable energy in Somalia and Somaliland and see investment directed towards that end. The agreement sets out the framework for immediate action and long-term strategies to prevent climate change, which includes the opportunity to address a significant barrier to the Low Carbon Transition － subsidies and public finance for fossil fuels. Implementing an end to public subsidies for high carbon energy is crucial for meeting one of the key goals of the agreement: “making financial flows consistent with a route towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development”.
We believe Gulf States such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are planning to buy the right to choose the next Somalian president in 2021-2022. I would remind you that your government has supported Somalia and that corrupt leaders should think twice before taking any action.
We acknowledge that since 2011, your government has given us aid funding, initiated development projects, opened schools and a military facility to train Somali government soldiers. However, in January 2020, you said that Turkey will start oil exploration in Somali waters at Mogadishu’s invitation, which could be seen as a sign of your desire to extend your influence beyond the borders of your country.
As far back as 2014, our petroleum ministry stated that the Norwegian oil company DNO and other small explorers were destabilising Somalia and warned that it might lodge complaints against these firms to the UN Security Council. The ministry said companies signing overlapping oil contracts and striking deals with regional governments were adding fuel to the fire and destroying the international community’s effort to build peace and security in the country. DNO was singled out because it planned to introduce armed militiamen in areas of conflict, which would have reignited old feuds resulting in internal displacement and harming the innocent and and most vulnerable.
I hereby call on your government and that of Norway, as well as the oil majors, investors and pension funds to stop financing the oil and gas companies that operate in Somalia and Somaliland.
Therefore, Mr Erdogan, I give you notice that your administration must cease what appears to us to be the new colonisation of Somalia by your country. In this case, one of our valuable natural resources will be seized without any accountability or transparency following the exploitation of our poor people.
Finally, I wish to state that the Somalian people will never forgive or forget the involvement of the governments of Turkey, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, if they continue to exploit Somalia in this way.
Dr Saciid Diiriye
Chairman of the Somaliland’s People’s Party
London U.K.
